Using the Univention ID Connector to implement federal-state solutions for central user data administration

The provision and maintenance of the schools’ master data are one of the most challenging issues in digital school administration. How do you manage to have complete, up-to-date user data available at any time, in any system, without manual and error-prone maintenance? At Univention, we have taken on this challenge and developed the UCS@school ID Connector to synchronize school identities on several independent UCS@school IDMs.

UCS 5 Dashboard available – Alert Manager replaces Nagios-Integration

Detailed domain and server monitoring for important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as disk usage, memory, CPU, network, etc. is an indispensable part of ensuring the smooth, trouble-free operation of an UCS environment. Using the UCS Dashboard, administrators can quickly obtain an overview of the status of a UCS domain and its servers via different dashboards.

Architecture Documentation of UCS as example for iterative writing

Univention Corporate Server Architecture
The documentation family for Univention products grew by a new member, the Univention Corporate Server Architecture. You can find the document online and for download as PDF. It is the first iteration of a much larger documentation project that covers the technical architecture behind Univention Corporate Server (UCS) on different detail levels for different audiences.

Second Point Release: Univention Corporate Server 5.0-2

With the Point Release UCS 5.0-2, another important step has been taken for further developing Univention Corporate Server towards more accessibility, better usability, as well as the integration of services and their central management. In this blog article, I would like to give you an overview of the most important new features and improvements, such as the integration of Self Services into the UCS Portal, the introduction of service-specific passwords or various performance improvements in the use of DNS and LDAP, as well as an overview of the apps made available for UCS 5.

UCS and UCS@school: on the Road to Accessibility

Barrierefreiheit in UCS
Most of us find it difficult to imagine what it’s like to work on a computer, tablet or smartphone with limited physical, sensory and/or cognitive abilities. There are numerous obstacles out there in the digital world, not just for users with physical disabilities. Older people and non-native speakers face barriers in digital environments as well—so let’s talk about how we can include all users, in particular users in the education and in the public sector.

The future is UCS 5

End of UCS 4
In May 2021, the release of UCS 5 took place. Important changes are:

  • New design and improved user interface
  • Expansion of Univention App Center
  • New core: Debian “Buster” and Python 3
  • Simplification and concentration on the essentials

Since the release of UCS 5, installations have been increasing daily. New systems are being installed and existing UCS 4 systems are being updated.

Univention ID Broker: GDPR compliant Broker

ID Broker: ID Vermittlungsdienste für Schulträger und Schulen
On May 11, 2022, we released the new Univention ID Broker to simplify the integration of educational portals and educational SaaS services (Software as a Service) in schools’ IT environments. The broker acts as intermediary service and connects UCS@school (serving as identity management system at school boards, states, and individual schools) with different external services, like learning management systems, digital media, and other educational offers. As a result, students and teachers can log in with their usual credentials to access their personalized and familiar environment. Here they get immediate access to all connected and enabled services (single sign-on).